Historical Romance Reviews

IN THE SPOTLIGHT: AN INTERVIEW WITH ANNA CAMPBELL

I’m thrilled to welcome back the fabulous, multi award-winning author ANNA CAMPBELL for an exclusive interview.

Carol, thanks for inviting me to your blog today! Fun questions!

~~~~~

R&R:
Could you tell us where you were born and what it was like growing up there?

Anna:
I was born in Brisbane in Queensland on the east coast of Australia. My father had a midlife crisis when I was five so we all moved to a farm on the bayside which was an absolutely glorious place to grow up. It was a small hamlet in a beautiful corner of the world and everybody knew everybody so it was a very free childhood. We grew all sorts of things like tomatoes and passionfruit and beans and zucchinis, but eventually Mum and Dad settled on establishing an avocado orchard. Good thing I love avocadoes! I was always a really dreamy kid – the family joke was that I’d lose things faster than you could say Jack Robinson just because I was so absent minded. I read a lot and played in my imagination which I think was excellent training for a writer.

Me with mum and dad

R&R:
How would you describe yourself – temperamental or easy-going?

Anna:
I’m actually pretty easy-going up to a point, but heaven help you if you go beyond that point! I wouldn’t say I’m a moody person.

R&R:
When it comes to food do you like sweet or savoury or both?

Anna:
I’d say both although my utter food downfall is potato chips which definitely fall into the salty/savoury category.

R&R:
What is your most treasured possession?

Anna:
I’ve got a few but I’ll pick my most regal one. My godfather worked for Royal Doulton in England in the late 50s/early 60s and during that time, RD made a new dinner service for Windsor Castle (under the regal brand name Royal Windsor!). He created his own dinner service from the offcuts and eventually gave the service to me. I’m always very proud to say when I use it (and I do use it) that Queen Elizabeth has this china and so do I and that’s it! In fact, my friends often ask me to use “Lizzie’s china.” Even nicer, it’s a pattern I really like and would have chosen for myself, were I a royal!

“Lizzie’s china”

R&R:If you were able to afford a second home anywhere in the world where would you choose and why?

Anna:
Carol, it will be no secret to you that, while I’m an Aussie, I’m an Anglophile through and through. One of the lovely things about writing Regency romance is that I get to express this love every day! I’d love a Georgian rectory or small manor house somewhere like Somerset. My characters might live in places like Chatsworth but that would be way too much for me to cope with! Or perhaps I’d take Sir Gideon Trevithick’s manor house on the Cornish cliffs – I definitely used Manderley as the inspiration for that one.

Georgian Rectory

R&R:
Finally, what has been your most embarrassing moment?

Anna:
I think there have been too many for me to pick a ‘most’ embarrassing moment. A writerly one was at my first Romance Writers of America conference where I hadn’t yet got used to people addressing me by my pseudonym Anna Campbell (another author has my real name and had used it!). I was mortified when I realised that all those people calling “Anna” were trying to talk to me! To this day, I’m sure some of those people are convinced I’m the snobbiest Australian who ever lived!

~~~~~

Anna, thank you for taking time out to be here today and sharing these fascinating facts about yourself.

Carol, thank you so much for having me as your guest. I love the idea of getting to know some of my favourite writers a little better!

If you would like to find out more about Anna and her books, here are the links:

Eileen, thank you very much for those kind words. Glad you enjoyed the interview – I think this idea of Carol’s of doing spotlight getting to know you posts on authors is sheer genius. Yeah, I always smile at that photo – cuddling a koala was a rite of passage here in Brisbane.

Visitor Map

COPYRIGHT DISCLAIMER

I do not hold the copyright to many of the images featured on this blog. They are used for visual appeal only. If any of the images are yours and you would like me to remove them, please let me know, and I will do so as soon as possible.